"Mary Poppins" is a Disney musical comedy, intended to entertain both children and adults. Although the movie is overlong and loses its focus towards the end, considerable charm remains.
The story features a well-to-do British family in the early 1900s. Mother is busy fighting for women's right to vote, no-nonsense Father makes his living at the bank, and the two young children need a Nanny. To the rescue comes Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews). She is "practically perfect in every way", and is magic as well. Dick VanDyke, a street merchant and chimney sweep, shows up now and then to help entertain the kids.
"Mary Poppins" has a nifty sequence that combines
animation and live action. This fantasy may be
the best part of the movie. There is similarity
between this film and "Peter Pan", another Disney
film where the children are entertained by a
magic figure who is only temporarily in their
lives.
If "Mary Poppins" is lacking anything, it is
dramatic tension. The only resistance to Mary
comes from Father, who wants to prepare the
children for the "real" world of work and
drudgery. With Father being so tiresome, VanDyke
serves as a surrogate, more friendly and
free-spirited. Father does have a character
transformation by the end of the film, which
could alternately be considered a nervous
breakdown.
The musical numbers have contagious melodies and
clever lyrics. They work well until a chimney
sweep sequence that goes on for too long and
features synchronized dancing and singing by
every chimney sweep in London.
"Mary Poppins" was the final film in the career
of veteran character actress Jane Darwell
("The Grapes of Wrath", "The Ox-Bow Incident"),
who plays the bird woman. (66/100)
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